My venoms - painless piercings, painful healing

By Anonymous · June 16, 2008

As I trundled around BME planning my next piercing I came upon the tongue piercing photo section. I'd never wanted my tongue pierced as I figured it'd make talking and eating difficult in everyday life, but I noticed the "Off Centre Tongue Piercings" section and had a look. In my relative inexperience I'd never seen these piercings before and I instantly loved them. 'Venoms' were more original than a regular centre tongue, and I love symmetry, so I investigated in my usual way by reading experiences.

After I felt I could deal with the healing process, I chose my moment; reading week. As I study a language at university, getting tongue piercings in the middle of a semester would be ridiculous as I would be lisping my way through speaking classes and generally sounding unintelligible. Therefore, I planned carefully. As healing would take a week on average, I decided to get them done on the Monday of reading week. I'd gone into Holier Than Thou on another occasion so that I could get Marcus to check whether my tongue could be pierced in this way, and that was fine. My boyfriend at the time didn't want to come, so I set out with another friend.

I, as always, made sure I'd eaten something beforehand to prevent me from fainting. I really made sure I cleaned my teeth thoroughly this time and was eating breath mints every few minutes. Hell, I didn't want the piercer to be overwhelmed by bad breath. I went to the studio with my friend, Marcus checked my tongue one more time, and we were ready to go. He went through all the risks thoroughly, such as tooth chipping and gum erosion, to make sure I was really sure about getting them done. I listened and told him I'd still go for it. He had venoms already and said he loved them, which further strengthened my resolve. I filled out the forms and got my aftercare sheet. My friend wanted to watch but I asked him to wait outside because at this point I'd always had piercings done without anyone else watching, and I was really nervous for this one.

Marcus had me sit on the bench and cleaned and marked up my tongue. I checked the markings and they were perfect. Now for the scary part - needles through the tongue. He opened the first needle and jewellery packets and asked if I was ready. I said yes, closed my eyes, breathed in, and he pierced on my exhale. I was really surprised as it didn't hurt a bit; just felt like weird pressure... it was quite pleasurable actually! The jewellery went in and I was worried that the second piercing might hurt more, but no, the same weird pressure pushed on my tongue as the needle passed through. The second barbell was fitted and my word, they were long (25mm!). After rinsing the blood from my mouth and cleaning up the drool, I looked in the mirror and they looked great. He asked if he could take a photo for the portfolio, I said yes, and so he did.

I went to the counter to pay (£45) and already my tongue was sore. I went outside to meet my friend and I was already lisping, which he found hilarious. I'd stocked up on soup and ice cream in preparation for the healing, which really helped.

The actual piercing may have been easy, but the healing week was a nightmare. My tongue swelled the length of the bars and it was impossible to speak coherently and without pain most of the time. Of course, I avoided alcohol like the plague and could only eat soup. I was hungry for quite a bit of that week as soup doesn't really fill you up, and I swear I lost a few pounds. My tongue bled a bit the second day and a little the next, but there were no torrents of blood luckily. The boyfriend wasn't that happy about not being able to kiss me properly, but I assured him it would be worth the wait. Along with massive swelling there was a white coating, particularly around the barbell balls. This is a normal part of the healing process, and I used a toothbrush to gently remove it. I had to be careful brushing my teeth in case I thrust the toothbrush into my sore tongue.

As the week ended, the swelling subsided and the bars suddenly gained their length back. I went and got them changed down a week to the day of the piercings (£10 for shorter 16mm bars) and it felt so much more comfortable. When Marcus took the longer barbells out to switch them my tongue felt strangely naked. After this, eating became easier but it was still a bit difficult for a few days. Eventually the swelling went down completely and I was able to eat and talk as normal.

Over the time I've had them, they've stretched themselves from 1.6mm to 2.4mm, so I bought barbells of that gauge with a shorter length (10mm) which slid right in. I've had my fair share of losing balls and bars down the sink and balls coming loose in my mouth (in the middle of a speaking lesson no less, very embarrassing) but all in all, they're great. I forget they're there most of the time and I've never chipped my teeth on them. Friends who've seen them are fascinated or grossed out because it'd never occurred to them that the tongue could be pierced in that way. Boyfriends have enjoyed the benefits a lot as well. If you're thinking of getting them, go for it, you'll love them.

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submitted by: Anonymouson: 16 June 2008in
Tongue Piercing

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Artist: MarcusStudio: Holier+Than+ThouLocation: Manchester%2C+UK

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